Urgent action needed to save the Javan Rhino

Rare camera trap footage provides hope for this near-extinct species

A camera trap gave conservationists a rare glimpse of two Javan rhinos and their calves in Ujung Kulon National Park. The footage, filmed in November and December of 2010, proves that Javan Rhinos are breeding in the park, a crucial achievement. The park has only recorded twelve other Javan rhino births in the past decade.

Poaching, diseases introduced by domestic cattle, and tsunamis or volcanic eruptions are just some of the factors that have left only 40 Javan rhinos in the wild today. Although the few remaining Javan rhinos are protected in this national park, the area is highly vulnerable to natural disasters which could easily destroy all life in the protected area.

“What Javan rhinos need is protection from poaching and to safeguard their fragile numbers by establishing a second population through translocation,” said Dr. Barney Long, WWF’s Asian species expert. “We don’t have much time to get the work done because there are no Javan rhinos in captivity. If we lose them in the wild then the world will have lost them forever.”